Drag Racing legends Vance & Hines debuted the new Harley-Davidson factory-backed Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod during the NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, this weekend, but there was no Cinderella story in the offing as the machine failed to make the 16-rider field for Sunday’s eliminations.

With 18-year-old rider G.T. Tonglet aboard (pictured), the V-Rod recorded a best run of 7.57 seconds at 171.51 mph – by far the best pass for a V-twin-powered Pro Stock bike – in the first round of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying today. The run, which bettered the team’s previous best of 7.68/167.41 in the second session on Friday, still fell short of the bump spot, a 7.39. Tonglet slowed to a 7.69/165.46 in his final qualifying attempt on Saturday, although bike and rider were cheered for turning on the win light at the end of the quarter mile while running against Tom Miceli, who recorded a 7.77/176.40 in the other lane.

“I really had high hopes that we would get into the show here,” team crew chief Byron Hines said. “We were running into a gremlin that was robbing us of horsepower on the top end. It ran better than that on our dyno. If I knew what the problem was, I would have fixed it.”

Hines said that the team plans to do some testing before the series’ next round in Houston, Texas.

Despite the setback, the Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod drew plenty of attention from fans and competitors alike – even attracting the attention of NHRA fuel stars John Force, Don Prudhomme and Joe Amato, all of whom paid a visit to the Harley pits to check it out. Harley-Davidson V.P. of Styling Willie G. Davidson was also on hand to watch the bike’s debut, and was encouraged by its performance.

“We’re happy to be here,” Davidson said. “We’re proud of the way that the motorcycle sounds and looks. We’re on a roll, and we’re going to keep it going.”

Heading into Sunday eliminations, Vance & Hines still has hopes for a win. The team’s Eagle One-backed Suzuki rider, Matt Hines, is qualified number one for eliminations. Hines recorded a time of 7.15/193.85 to earn the pole.